komodo

No kidding! How many times have you done something and thought you were done (esp necks), then later you go to "touch it up" and have another big session of microplanes, scrapers, sandpaper etc. Magic = really hard work!

Thanks buddy. This one has been a serious test of that patience. Oiling neck. Finally it is similar color to the lacquered body core.

Closing in.

Closing in.

Consider this: If you did an inlay all the way across the board like a ‘ghost fret’, the wood is actually separating there, potentials for unevenness or whatever. But if you just did fret markers on the top edge, you would see it easily and it would still be one solid board. Not my picture, no idea who made this, using as example. those extra dots on the high side are interesting also.

There are no wrong answers here! I did not see the fish, and wondered why Fish On.

Sweet! Love the general overall feel of it. The only [part that I stick on is the head stock star shaped inlay part. It separates the heavy red area from the rest of the bass. Might be nice treated similar to the body? Not nitpicking. What kind of woods?

You lost me there. Tannin tea goes on and dries. Then vinegar/rust goes on and dries. While wet, that's very black and it gradually turns even blacker. When it fully dries, it's greyish and kinda chalky. When the hard wax oil goes on it becomes very black again, very similar to how dye looks lighter and matte and then goes translucent and shiny with lacquer on it. All of that was done in various ways on test pieces. I'm starting to think that the splotchy non-total-black areas are from a more watered (DNA) down tannin application. When you mix the tannin powder it likes to settle in the jar. It was always stirred, but there seemed like a thicker concentration towards the bottom. When it's thinner, it's a lot like tea. When thicker, it's kinda resiny and sticky. I was thinking that the tannin tea soaks into the wood, but it looks like the thicker stuff created a more opaque layer on the surface. This meshes with my previous ebonizing experience with oak, in that it still allowed the grain and some color to show through almost like it was a rosewood. Sorry for the long-windedness. I'm trying to document results here in case someone from the future is reading. Options: 1) sand and try it again. Sanded test pieces show that once through the hard wax oil (HWO) you get to the chalky/matte layer. Oil is more a surface coat. 2) sand and lay on a coat of black some thing. Since I'm doing matte/satin and no grain fill, this is pretty forgiving. It could literally be a coat of spray can lacquer. 3) leave it. It's mostly black, the brown areas really only show in string light. But they are not natural looking.

It's got at least three coats of Fiddes on now, they go on as easy as Truoil, but it dries quickly and a lot like filler. It's doesn't seem like much, but dries rock hard. That's the good. The bad is that with wiping on, it can get "wipe marks" if you aren't careful and apply thin. Sometimes there are little spots, like dust or lint that makes a tiny raised bit. Before the last coat I decided to give it a super light scuff sand for a smooth final coat. After drying and putting it in really good light, I can see areas that don't look solid black. So, either 1) the scuff process took off some black, or 2) it created lighter areas that didn't go black again, or 3) they weren't solid black to begin with but appeared to be. 1) isn't likely. I sanded a test piece to get to bare wood and it was TOUGH. 2) imagine sanding gloss black, you get a kind of lighter matte grey where you sand. I don;t think this was the case, because the splotchy areas look almost brownish underneath. 3) most likely. After the tannin and vinegar process, it's very chalky and wet or damp it's impossible to judge. When dry you saw how it was grey, and then wet again with the hard wax oil makes it go ultra wet black. But, if the "finish" was not as as solid in an area you may not know it. I coated it with tannin tea several times, and the vinegar solution makes it go insane black. Maybe the hard wax oil mixes and smears that coating? Maybe the first coat needs to be put on very carefully? It's also possible that certain parts of the wood just don't take as much as others. Considering next steps.

You bring up a great point. I've been putting it off thinking that with each step it gives the neck protection. Really I should've taken it off quite a ways back to get a good transition. I usually do a careful score with an Xacto and peel small bits slowly. After messing with the Cellusolve so much, I'm not really afraid of anything anymore. LOL I got up to 2800 with the Micromesh and caved in with my car pads and cutting compounds that I was going to use on the Beemer (aka girlfriend). I've still got the final polishing compound to do, but it's already where many ppl would probably quit (not you though - you and Louis are the bars I measure against!). It just needs a nut, the electrics put in, and the final shaping of the trem cover around the new bar. And polishing out the cover plate. Why I didn't put the plate on to finish out, IDK. Same mistakes being made over and over.

It’s no @ScottR but it’s getting there.

Here's what I started with after resizing. I can't guarantee that I didn't alter anything as I was building. There was improvisation happening for stuff like the inner frame that the back screws into.

Mine is the Fiddes. I did look at the Osmo but couldn’t get it and this Fiddes rated highly. You only need a very small can, 250ml. This is very different from other oils. It dries quickly and really hard. Here’s a slightly better pic with about three thin coats.

Forgot to add - the most important thing about this is that now I have two amps and can run stereo. Which is HUUUUUUGE.

Thanks. The only swearing this time was when I guesstimated the extra space I would need on the back panel for the Tolex, and then it STILL wasn't enough. But it was already wrapped, so there was some coercion to get the panel in. Ported is tricky as it does open up the bass, but the extra excursion can be more than the speaker was designed for. This can be volume (dB) dependent. Since this cab will only be used in a lower volume home setting, I can get the bass without the risk of flub or blowing the speaker. If I used it with a band, I'd have to really be careful about over excursion. That's where that removable front plate to tune the port can come in handy. Off - allows max excursion, on - tempers that a bit, though I don't get how it's much different from an open-backed cab. There really is a noticeable difference in sound with the plate (which I didn't really think would be the case).

Here's the original 12" http://www.realoldiesradio.com/docs/EV/ElectroVoice_TL806.pdf Let me know if you want the 10" measurements.

@Prostheta I'm not 100% of everything in the Qubrachos ingredients, but it came with a warning sheet and was sealed in a bag, in a bag, in a bag! I'm full respirator when I even open it up because it's such a fine powder. I've handled it like it was deadly poison. You are right about the color cast. That was my number one concern, as no black is really black. There's always a blue hue, or something unexpected especially as you thin it. This process, to my delight, is absolutely dead black like carbon lamp black. Once the hard wax oil builds layers and hardens it will be satiny but that's just fine and my intended result. The beauty of this is the incredible ease and forgiveness. At this point, even if I see an area that needs sanding or tweaking, it's no big deal to do that and touch it up. So far the hard wax oil easily beats Truoil for me and goes on similarly. I've got a small guitar finished in Truoil that had a guitar cable laying on it, and it melted into the finish long after it was cured. The hard wax oil is made as a floor finish, and so far it feels like it's up to that level of protection.

I’ve got a regular 12” Thiele cab, and then ran into a 10” EV Force 10 which is like a mini EV12L. Even though the TL806 was designed specifically for the EV12L, I thought what if I shrank it down to fit the 10”? So, I scaled the plans directly in Illustrator and re-measured everything and then built it. Surprise, it works excellently and actually sounds like a 12”. I’m most proud of the Tolex, I’ve done it before but it’s not easy. I’m using it with this tiny little Mesa TA15.

If you have small trim router, you can make a base out of plywood or plexi but make one side really long. Then drill a bunch of holes down the center for your locating pin. I did this for cutting out circles for speakers. Use a small downcut spiral bit for clean edges. I’ve got the bits used in Rotozip tools. But I’ve never cut rosettes though so ... Kinda like this.

Back in black. Here you can see how the grey goes back to pitch black when the hard wax oil is on it. Its super hard to photo. Once the coats are dry and I can handle it, I’ll get it into some light and do it better. Easiest finish ever, I wiped it on with an old sock in 5 minutes.

Yes it does. Or at least the test piece did. Part of the greyness is trying to photograph total black. Quite possibly harder than photographing total gloss. Which I know you know a thing or two about . . .

You take me for a scientist, sir. I'm assuming that the enchanted juice releases the spyrit from within the wood. As soon as it reaches the surface it is communicated with the atmospheres of hell which freely float among us - to then produce the infernal burning and ash coating of eternal damnation.

This is amazing. You’re not going to want to give it up.

It’s black now. It bubbles some with the vinegar reaction, and then dries to an ugly splotchy greyish. You can see on the one pic where its still wet inside the neck pocket. Last pic is the test piece with a couple quick coats of the hardwax oil on the left and the raw on the right. Easiest finish ever.

Oh that's a really elegant carve. Better than the ones Fender does.